For the newest (second) employee of the Bunbunmaru Newspaper, Aya had left behind a notebook.
It was a notebook for Mystia to write down the news scoops she would undoubtedly encounter. It was a tengu notebook, of course. It was tightly, precisely bound. When she opened it, the spine made a satisfying, crisp sound, and it smelled like wood and flowers. On the front, in elegant calligraphy, it said, 'NOTES.' A silky red ribbon extended from the top of the spine, and while Mystia wasn't sure what this was for, it looked very fancy. The paper was white as snow, and so smooth and supple that she wanted to rub her cheek against it. It came with a pen, a precise little piece of machinery that made a sharp, officious click when she pressed the button.
Mystia's other notebook, the one she kept her financial records in, was crumpled and stained. It smelled like grease and lampreys. She hadn't been ashamed of it before, but she realized now that she should have been.
On the front page of the new notebook, she'd started keeping a list of every patron that she served. It currently said:
Mokou X
Sanae X
Marisa XX
Fairies? -XX
Kagerou XX
Sekibanki X
Mokou X
Other Humans XXXXX
Reisen X
It represented four nights of sales. Four pretty good nights, apart from the two times that fairies had stolen from her. What it didn't represent, though, was much news. Marisa had cajoled Sanae into having a drink, and Sanae had launched into a long rambling anecdote about wars and machines. Reisen had complained about her job for an hour. Sekibanki had complained about humans for an hour. Nothing that would make for much of a story.
After four days without a scoop, she was starting to feel anxious. Aya hadn't set a quota for her, but she still felt obligated to deliver for the tengu who had saved her business. So, Mystia frowned down at the notebook, tapping her new pen against it thoughtfully as she tried to string together a story from the checkmarks in front of her. The story Sanae had told her would almost be newsworthy, if she could just figure out what a liquid snake was and why Sanae would fistfight one...
Her train of thought was interrupted by a hand pushing aside one of the flaps outside the customer area.
"Hello!" somebody announced from the other side. It was a tone of voice that sounded entirely too pleased just to have the opportunity to say, 'hello.' It made Mystia instantly suspicious.
Her suspicions were confirmed when the voice's owner stepped through the curtain. She was entirely too overdressed for the occasion, with a dress that looked practically antique, a gauzy shawl wrapped over her shoulders, a few pieces of jewelry, and an ornate hairpin. Her hair was held up in a pair of elaborate loops. Serving a late-night crowd by definition, Mystia was used to most of her customers looking a bit bedraggled and plain. This one, on the other hand, looked like her outfit was worth more than everything that Mystia owned combined.
More concerning was the fact that a dead girl shambled in behind her, her arms outstretched.
The woman smiled expectantly. The corpse gurgled. Mystia looked between the two and weighed her options.
"Um," she said. "Hello?"
If the woman noticed her reluctance, she didn't show it. She leaned over to the dead girl and gave her a coaxing pat on the back. "Yoshika, dear, say hello."
The corpse focused uncertainly on Mystia. She frowned in concentration. Then, she groaned, "Hell-loooooooo!"
"Good girl, good girl!" The woman patted Yoshika's head enthusiastically, as if she were the world's least hygienic lapdog. Yoshika beamed in accomplishment.
"Hello..." Mystia repeated. Under the circumstances, it seemed like the best thing to do was to carry on as if one of her customers wasn't a walking corpse. "Er. Tonight's special is free sake with an order of a lamprey combo."
"Hmm? Oh, no, we're not here to buy food," the woman said. From somewhere, she produced a business card and offered it over. Mystia took it.
"Seiga Kaku," the woman said. "Professional hermit. It's nice to meet you."
It was just as well that she introduced herself, since Mystia was still trying to make sense out of the surname printed on the card. "... okay."
"And I'd like to talk to you about..." Seiga raised a rolled-up newspaper and gave it a knowing waggle, as if its presence was supposed to mean something to Mystia, then spread it out on the countertop. "This."
Mystia leaned in to glance over the paper.
It was an issue of the Bunbunmaru. The top half of the page was mostly filled with a photograph of Marisa, standing in the doorway of what was presumably her house and talking glibly to whoever had taken the photo. Through the doorway behind her, heaps of junk could be seen.
The headline read, 'MAGICIAN CONFESSES TO RAIDING TAOIST TOMB.'
"According to this," Seiga said, in a tone that suggested it was the most interesting thing she'd ever read, "Marisa stole some things from the tomb under the graveyard, and she stopped by here to talk about it afterward."
"She stopped by here? Does it say that?"
"Ah, you're right, it doesn't! I'm sorry. It says that all of this information came from a 'secret informant.' And that's you!"
Mystia stiffened up, fidgeting with her cleaning rag. "Well, 'secret informant' means that nobody actually knows who it is, doesn't it?"
"Oh, well, yes. That's why I asked the tengu who writes the paper! She was very helpful."
So much for 'secret'... Mystia drooped. "Well... she did stop by here on her way home, yeah. What about it?" She glanced to Yoshika. Graverobbing, a walking corpse... it all made sense now. "Oh! Did the stuff that she stole belong to this girl?"
"Hmm? Oh, Yoshika? No, no, not at all! Can you imagine? She'd probably try eating them, the silly thing." The woman reached over to ruffle Yoshika's hair again. Yoshika gave a groan that could have been satisfaction, or could have just been gasses escaping. "No, the treasures in that tomb belonged to me and my allies."
"So you're dead."
"I'm a hermit!" Seiga declared proudly. "I might have spent a few centuries in a tomb, but that was only a short nap. Would somebody dead look this good?"
Mystia declined to comment. Before she could form a reply, a rather distinct crunching noise drew her attention. She glanced to the side. "... stop eating the plates!"
"Ah, Yoshika, dear..." Seiga stepped over and looped an arm around Yoshika, then used her other hand to fish what remained of the plate out of her mouth. "You can't eat these."
"I'm sorry," Yoshika groaned. Flecks of glass fell from her lips.
"She's just a little peckish, I'm afraid," Seiga said, as if this were a perfectly normal thing. She offered the half-eaten plate over with a warm smile.
Noting the gleam of saliva on it, Mystia elected to wrap a cloth around her hand before grabbing it, and dropped it into the trash. "... thanks."
"It's fine, it's fine! I apologize for the inconvenience. We do have the good fortune to be at a food stall, after all. Could we please have, hmm, three lamprey plates and a bottle of sake?"
"Should I put them all together, or does she want to eat more plates?" Mystia asked sarcastically.
"Oh, no, food is fine too. My cute jiang-shi can digest anything, can't she?"
"Glurghf," Yoshika replied.
"... right." Mystia crouched down to pull nine lamprey skewers from the icebox. She took the opportunity to gather her wits and try to come up with a plan of action. Three plates was more sales than she'd made to a single customer in weeks, which would certainly help her budget recover, but she was still hoping for this to be over soon. When dealing with the type of customers who ate the dinnerware, the best course of action was probably to satisfy them as quickly as possible and get them out the door.
"So!" she said, as she straightened back up and put the lamprey onto the grill. "Marisa did come by here a few days ago! She had a sack of things that she said she'd taken from the tomb. She didn't stick around for long, so she didn't tell me much. The interview in the paper probably has more information than I do."
"Oh, I see!" Seiga said. "And did she show you what she'd stolen?"
"Not really... are you looking for something in particular?"
"A vase." Seiga held up her hands to demonstrate the size. "It contained some very valuable materials for making elixirs."
"I didn't see anything like that..."
"But it was in the tomb a few weeks ago, and now it's missing. It stands to reason that Marisa took it, doesn't it?"
"Sure, that makes sense."
"And I assume that you're familiar with Marisa's house?"
"Huh? Um, yeah, I know where it is."
"Wonderful! Then would you be a peach and help me get it back?"
"... h-huh?" Mystia froze, halfway through flipping a skewer. "I'm not really sure if I could do anything about an issue like that..."
"Oh, it shouldn't be too hard! I'll just need a little help from you."
"I don't know..."
"I really do need those ingredients for my elixirs, and some of them are far too rare to find elsewhere on such short notice. Poor Yoshika here will start decaying in a few weeks without the right balms. I need to make one every now and then to maintain my youth, myself."
"I have to watch my stand tonight."
Seiga studied her face for a moment, and her ever-present smile slowly faded. "Of course," she said with a nod. "I understand. I wouldn't want to trouble you."
Mystia looked away, and thankfully found that the lamprey skewers were done. It was a welcome distraction. She piled them onto the plate, opened a bottle of sake, and slid the two across the counter. "Order's up."
"Here we go, Yoshika," Seiga said, lifting one of the skewers and waggling it in front of Yoshika's face. "Make sure to eat a lot. If you're well-fed now, it will take you longer to start decaying."
"'kaaaaaay."
Yoshika took a bite. The distinct sound of a wooden skewer being chewed hung in the air for a few seconds until she swallowed.
Mystia grabbed a cup from behind the counter and pretended to wipe it with a rag to give her an excuse to look away. The whole predicament had left her feeling uncomfortable to begin with, and she wasn't really in the mood for her usual chatting with her customers. Well, customer. Yoshika didn't seem like the talkative sort.
"Poor dear," Seiga said, as she fed the rest of the skewer into Yoshika's mouth then tugged her fingers back to avoid getting them eaten. "Dead for years, and now that you've gotten a second chance, you're just going to die again..."
Mystia started rubbing the glass more quickly.
"It's okay, though. Without my elixirs, I suppose that I'll be joining you soon enough. We can keep each other company in the hells."
Mystia's grip on the glass tightened until she imagined that she could hear it cracking between her fingers.
"I'm told that one of the yamas takes kindly to hermits, so maybe we can get off with only a few centuries of flogging..."
"Lady!" Mystia chirped, her wings giving a flick behind her. "If you're trying to guilt trip me into helping you, you can forget it!"
"Oh my, is that what it sounded like? I'm so sorry! I can see how you might get that impression, though." Seiga gave Mystia an expression like a bag of drowning puppies, then turned to Yoshika. "Yoshika, dear, grab the food so that we don't have to bother this nice lady anymore."
"Fooood," Yoshika drawled. She scooped the entire collection, plates and all, into her arms. Seiga provided a cloth sack from somewhere, and Yoshika dropped the whole lot into it.
"You still haven't paid!" Mystia said, when Seiga started turning away. "And those are my plates!"
"Oh, of course! How silly of me." Seiga turned back and produced a coin purse, then started slowly counting out her tab. "I might forget my own head if it weren't attached."
Mystia didn't say anything.
"Please, don't worry about us, either," Seiga continued conversationally. "I'm sure that Yoshika and I will manage somehow."
Mystia stayed quiet and kept her eyes on the coins in case Seiga tried anything.
"I have to admit, though, I'm a bit disappointed, after everything the lady at the newspaper said about you..."
Mystia paused and looked up. "Um? What did she say?"
"Oh, nothing but praise! She said that you're brave, conscientious, intelligent, and, well, I'm sure you get the idea. I'd thought for sure that you might be able to help us after that. Ah well."
Mystia sat in stunned silence. Aya had said she was brave? And consci—okay, honestly, she didn't have much of an idea of what 'conscientious' meant. But intelligent? Aya, a tengu, had called her intelligent?
Mystia's entire face was rapidly turning red. Seiga's smile grew, and she continued. "Although, I'm sure that a reporter like her has plenty of contacts. Maybe she could recommend somebody else to help me."
Seiga continued, but Mystia was off in her own world now. Aya had practically recommended her for this job. The first time she'd ever gotten an actual compliment from a tengu, and now she was going to fail to live up to it? She could just imagine how those other tengu would react when word got around. And plus, it was Aya, and in a way, if she thought about it, helping Seiga to get her stolen stuff back was practically a good deed, and—
"I'll do it," Mystia said.
"Hmm? I'm sorry, what was that?"
"I-I'll do it!" she repeated, more loudly.
"Oh, wonderful!" Seiga reached across the counter and gave her hands a warm squeeze. "I was sure that we could count on you!"
"Right, yeah...! I mean! You just need somebody to lead you to Marisa's house, right?"
"Hmm? No, no, I know where her house is. I need somebody to keep watch while I go inside and look for my missing vase!" Seiga hummed to herself, seeming oblivious to the look of mounting horror on Mystia's face. "Now then, it will be dawn in a few hours," she said, as she guided Mystia around the counter. "So we really should get moving."
The Forest of Magic was dark. It was a new moon, leaving only the stars and the occasional firefly to provide some light. Marisa's cottage was just barely visible as a black rectangle, slightly lighter than the black everything-else around it. Seiga had wasted in time in walking right up to its back wall and sliding the hairpin out of her hair.
"So, um," Mystia said, "the plan is to go in there and steal your vase?"
"That's right!" Seiga said, in a sing-song voice. She was tracing a slow, careful circle on the wall with her hairpin. Mystia wasn't sure what this was supposed to accomplish, but it seemed a bit late to start asking questions.
"In the middle of the night."
"Mmhm."
"To steal stuff from a youkai hunter."
"That's the plan."
Seiga finished drawing her circle, and the wall parted noiselessly into a round hole. Beyond it, Mystia could see nothing but vague shadows in the low light. Some situations were too creepy for even a youkai. "So you just need me to... stay out here, right?"
"Oh, yes, that's the idea! You have the most important job of all. Yoshika?" Seiga held out a hand, and Yoshika handed over the sack of food, which Seiga then offered over to Mystia. "You need to stand guard and hold our food."
"You need me to hold your food?"
"That's right. I just need you to stand out here and hold this."
Mystia eyed the sack in confusion. "Why did you put your food in a sack, anyway? Why'd you even have a sack in the first place? Couldn't your zombie just hold it?"
"She's a jiang-shi," Seiga said, ignoring most of Mystia's questions. "And she needs to leave before we start. Jiang-shi are terrible at sneaking, I'm afraid." She patted Yoshika's shoulder. "Yoshika dear, you can head home, okay? I'll be back soon."
"Okayyyyyy," Yoshika drawled, as she ambled off into the underbrush.
"Right..." Mystia reached out and grabbed the sack, then gave it an appraising heft. "Hold a sack. I think I can handle that."
"Perfect. I should only need your help for a few minutes."
Right. It was a weird request, but Seiga seemed like a pretty weird person, so that only made sense. And if she turned back now...
Mystia could just imagine that news getting back to Aya. 'Ah, it's fine, it's fine! I should've known better than to recommend a sparrow for something, anyway.'
That settled it. Mystia gave a firm nod and slung the sack over her shoulder. "I understand! You can count on me...!" she chirped.
"Wonderful! Please wait here."
Seiga flashed her one last smile, then ducked into the hole in the walla. Within seconds, she'd disappeared into the darkness beyond. Soon, even her footsteps had faded into the distance, and Mystia was once again alone in the night. Not that being alone in a forest at night was a particularly unsettling situation for a night sparrow, but it still left her a bit uncertain what to do.
A few minutes passed. Something deep inside the cottage gave a thump. Mystia shifted from foot to foot.
A bit more time passed. A louder thump followed. Mystia leaned forward and peered into the hole, but stilll couldn't make out much inside the cottage
A muffled shout came from within the cottage. Mystia tensed up. Pounding footsteps approached.
Mystia leaned away from the hole just as Seiga leapt through it, with an overfilled sack slung over her shoulder.
"H-hey, um...!" Mystia squeaked. "What's happening?!"
"No time to talk, I'm afraid!" said Seiga.
"Um, but!" Mystia glanced between Seiga and the hole. "She woke up, didn't she?!"
"So it would seem! Just stay there for a few more minutes."
"A few minutes?! But she's—"
Mystia stopped mid-sentence, as Seiga gave her a cheerful wave and took flight. Within seconds, she'd disappeared into the forest.
Something deep inside the cottage was still moving around.
Mystia took a nervous step away from the hole, fidgeting with her sack full of food. It would be nice to prove that she was brave, but standing outside of the house of an angry youkai hunter wasn't really the best way to go about it...
Rapidly-approaching footsteps from inside the house demanded Mystia's attention, and she backed away from the hole, glancing indecisively toward the forest.
The footsteps got louder. Something vaulted out of the hole in a blur and landed heavily on the grass.
It was Marisa, wearing nothing but a nightgown and boots. Her hair was a mess. She looked like she'd reached the exact midpoint between sleepy and annoyed.
She glared blearily at Mystia for a moment before the eyes settled on the sack in her hands. Her lips pulled up in a challenging grin. "I'll be takin' that back now."
"A-ah, no, I don't think you understand, there's nothing in here except—"
And Marisa barreled toward her, and Mystia took off running, as quickly as her tiny legs would carry her.
"Seiga just asked me to help her!" she squealed as she ran. "I didn't do anything!"
"Guess that sack's just for show, huh!" Marisa shouted back. Between her voice and her footsteps, Mystia could tell that she was getting closer.
"There's just food in it! I, um...!" Mystia reached the edge of Marisa's yard now, and had to go quiet as she ducked unto the underbrush and began weaving through trees. Off in the distance, the forest was dotted with luminescent mushrooms, providing just enough context for her to pick out a path.
The pounding footsteps grew closer... closer...
Marisa tackled into her from behind, and they tumbled across leaves and beds of moss.
"Please don't exterminate me...!" Mystia squeaked.
As soon as the two came to a stop, Marisa sat up, keeping one hand on Mystia's shoulder to pin her to the ground. "I'm not gonna exterminate you, jeez." With her free hand, she tugged the sack out of Mystia's hands and upended it. "I just want..." The items tumbled out, and Marisa went silent.
Laying on the forest floor were one bottle of sake, three plates, and eight lamprey skewers.
"What the heck is this junk?"
"That's what I was trying to tell you! I didn't take anything, Seiga just had me stand out there like that and told me not to move!"
Mystia looked from Mystia to the pile of junk and lamprey. "She brought a frickin' decoy this time?!"
"Um, decoy? … wait, 'this time'?!"
"Which way'd she go?!" Marisa demanded, ignoring Mystia's confusion.
Mystia numbly pointed in the direction that Seiga had fled in.
"Right."
Marisa pushed herself to her feet, and, after a moment to reconsider, crouched down and snatched up the bottle of sake. She leapt into the air and took off flying after Seiga at full speed.
Mystia was left sitting on the forest floor, with eight lamprey skewers and an empty sack in her lap. After ten minutes, neither Seiga nor Marisa had returned, and she decided to go home.
By the time that Mystia reached the stand again, it was almost dawn. Too late to hope for any more customers... not that the stand was in any condition for it, anyway. In her absence, the lanterns had burnt down, the fire under the grill had dwindled to smoking coals, and the counter was still covered with a few drool-smeared glass shards.
At this point, Mystia was just glad to be home. She dropped the sack on the bench, walked behind the bar, slumped down in her seat, and spent a few minutes just enjoying the peace and quiet.
Then, she lit a lantern, pulled out her tengu notebook, and angrily began to write.
